Apparatus and method of providing business solutions and services

ABSTRACT

A method and system of providing business solutions via a dynamic system. In order to provide business solutions, the method and system uses rules to formulate questions based on (i) specific industries, (ii) specific problems and/or (ii) specific answers in response to a dynamic set of questions (metrics), amongst others. These specific solutions may also be quantified in order to provide specific financial benefit analysis to the business using spreadsheets and financial software based on quantitative data provided by the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention generally relates to an apparatus andmethod of providing business solutions and, more particularly, to amethod and system of selling and justifying business solutions andservices via a dynamic system.

[0003] 2. Background Description

[0004] Business solutions are of increasing importance in a highlycompetitive marketplace. These business solutions can providecompetitive advantages to a business thus increasing efficiency. Thisefficiency may then, in turn, lead to increased profits and untold othervalues to the business. Some business solutions may include streamlininginventory as well as more efficiently deploying a sales force within aspecific demographic or geographic region. In either one of thesesolutions, as well as an untold number of other solutions, a businessmay be able to more efficiently sell its products, maintain an optimallevel of inventory without disrupting a business supply chain or providebetter services to its clients and customers, amongst other advantages.

[0005] Current business solutions are devised using consultants,accountants and sales people. By using these highly skilled and talentedpeople there is a need that each individual be intimately familiar withthe particular business. This will then allow each individual toidentify the business problem and hence contribute to the neededbusiness solution. This process, however, is very time and laborintensive thus leading to increased costs.

[0006] It is further noted that businesses are dynamic thus changingwith the times and marketplace environment. This dynamic nature of abusiness translates into the need for different solutions on a fairlyfrequent basis. This, again, requires a team of individuals toconstantly evaluate and reevaluate the business and marketplaceenvironment to provide appropriate solutions. This can be an expensiveprocess. Needless to say, this process also takes away valuableresources from the business such as preventing a sales person fromgenerating sales and profits for the business.

[0007] Another problem associated with finding proper business solutionsis that there are so many different and overlapping solutions andservices. Needless to say, finding the most appropriate solutions whichcan most improve the business is very complex. First, the business mustbe assessed to determine the weakest point or most susceptibility tocompetitive forces. Second, the potential solutions must be identifiedto address the weak points. Third, the potential solutions must beassessed to see which solutions and accompanying services would generatethe most financial improvement in the business. As discussed above, thisprocess is normally performed manually by a sales and consulting team,but may also be aided by simple spreadsheet or financial software. Thisprocess is time consuming, labor intensive and, in many instances, costprohibitive. Due to these constraints and the many overlappingsolutions, some businesses opt not to seek any solutions while othersmay seek the wrong solutions.

[0008] The world wide web portion of the Internet has been recentlyemployed to provide processes to help assist a business in seeking asolution to a problem. These world wide web based processes are based ontwo simple methods: (i) displaying the business's products on screensand (ii) allowing the user to search for products based on specifiedkeywords. These simple methods perform well only if the user knows whatthey are looking for in order to solve the business problem. However, inmany instances a user does not know the specific problem and will thusnot be able to solve such problem by providing an appropriate solution.That is, when a business has a business problem, they may not know whichsolutions solve which problems, which problems are most critical andwhich solutions are the most effective. In such cases, existing webbased methods are not very effective. Instead, the solution must againbe provided by consultants or knowledgeable sales people.

[0009] In other web based applications, a questionnaire is used toassist the user in solving the business problem and thus providing asolution. But, generally these questionnaires are static in nature andrequire the user to answer all of the questions prior to providing asolution. If the number of questions is large, which is usually thecase, users are reluctant to answer all of the questions. Also, in manyof these static processes, it is difficult to even determine a solutionby the questions that are asked during the process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention is an improvement over prior art systemsfrom three standpoints. One, more business clients have access to theworld wide web portion of the Internet or other communications mediumthan to a host of expensive consultants. Two, the cost of selling asolution or service will decrease because some of the process will beperformed without the aid of expensive consultants. Three, there isreduced content maintenance; that is, should the content change (i.e., anew question is added) only the database and the expert rules have tomodified. Thus, no new programming is needed nor do any of the web pageshave to be modified.

[0011] In one aspect of the present invention, a method of providingbusiness solutions over an interactive communications medium isprovided. The method includes selectively providing metrics which areassociated with a business problem and a specific industry and providinga business solution based on the selective metrics and responses to theselective metrics.

[0012] In another aspect of the present invention a method is providedfor providing business solutions over an interactive communicationsmedium. The method includes identifying a specific industry andproviding at least one business measure associated with a particularfinancial aspect of the specific industry. The method further includesproviding a set of questions associated with problems of the specificindustry, where the set of questions are related to each of the providedat least one business measure. A business solution is provided based onresponses to the set of questions and the specific industry.

[0013] In yet another aspect of the present invention a system isprovided for providing business solutions over an interactivecommunications medium. The system includes a business driver modulewhich stores business measures associated with a specific industry and abusiness metrics module which stores questions associated with thespecific industry and a selected business measure. The system furtherincludes a business solution module which provides business solutionsbased on responses to the selected questions stored in the businessmetrics module and the specific industry.

[0014] In still another aspect of the present invention, a machinereadable medium containing code for providing business solutions over aninteractive communications medium is provided. The code implements thesteps of selectively providing metrics which are associated with abusiness problem and a specific industry and providing a businesssolution based on the selective metrics and responses to the selectivemetrics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will bebetter understood from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0016]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the system architecture of thepresent invention;

[0017]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the steps of implementing themethod of the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 3 is an exemplary inventory driver and metrics flow diagramimplementing an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0019]FIG. 4 is a high level diagram showing the implementation of theapparatus and method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0020] The present invention preferably uses the world wide web portionof the Internet to automate the entire process of providing businesssolutions. It should be realized by those of ordinary skill in the art,however, that the present invention is also easily adaptable for use invoice enabled web browsers as well as other voice communications(telephone), personal digital assistants (PDA) and a host of othercommunication systems. In order to provide business solutions, thepresent invention uses rules based engines to formulate questions basedon (i) specific industries, (ii) specific problems and/or (ii) specificanswers in response to a dynamic set of questions (metrics), amongstothers. These specific solutions may also be quantified in order toprovide specific a financial benefit analysis to the business usingspreadsheets and financial software based on quantitative data providedby the user of the present invention.

[0021] Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, ahigh level block diagram of the system architecture of the presentinvention is provided. The system architecture of the present inventionis generally depicted as reference numeral 100 and includes a drivermodule 102. The driver module 102 includes a set of specific measuresassociated with a particular financial aspect of the relevant business.The driver module 102 may be associated with, but is not limited to, thefollowing business aspects:

[0022] 1. Inventory;

[0023] 2. Revenue;

[0024] 3. Costs of goods sold;

[0025] 4. Selling and administrative expenses;

[0026] 5. Fixed assets;

[0027] 6. Accounts receivable; and

[0028] 7. Accounts payable.

[0029] Still referring to FIG. 1, the system architecture 100 of thepresent invention also includes a metrics module 104 which is used todevelop a set of specific questions associated with each businessmeasure of the driver module 102. . By way of example, if the specificbusiness measure of the driver module 102 is “Inventory”, the metricsmodule 104 may request from the user whether there is a high inventorydue to an improper finished good policy. Of course other questions mayalso be used with the present invention depending on the specificbusiness measures selected from the driver module 104, one of which isdiscussed with reference to FIG. 3.

[0030] It should be understood by those of skill in the art that themetrics module 104 may include a set of questions which simply require aresponse that is within a certain range or a “yes” or “no” response(instead of specific quantitative responses) in order to simplify theanalysis used to provide the solution. In the case of a range ofquestions, industry benchmarks are used to determine whether a givenrange is acceptable or problematic. Alternatively, the metrics modulemay solicit more quantitative response. In either scenario, thequestions are termed “metrics” which are used in conjunction with theresponses thereto to determine the generic or specific solution to thebusiness problem. The metrics are preferably provided in a hierarchicaltree format as shown in FIG. 3.

[0031] The user response (to the question presented by the metricsmodule 104) is then used to either generate new pertinent questions orto map generic solutions provided by a functionality module 106. Afunctionality is a generalization as to what a solution may accomplish.Also, one solution may perform several functionalities, for example, aCRM solution may manage a company's call center and monitor the samecompany's web site. The system of the present invention can be used torule out some of the proposed solutions based on information about thebusiness such as geography and revenue. The remaining solutions may thenbe used to determine a specific solution or passed to a financialprogram which estimates the financial benefit of each solution. Themapping of the solution is preferably performed by a rules based enginesuch as the Blaze Advisor™ (a product of Blaze Software Inc.) which isimplemented in the Websphere Commerce Suite™ manufactured byInternational Business Machines, Corp. The present invention is notlimited to the Blaze Advisor™, and may be used with any rules basedengine which is adaptable for use with the present invention.

[0032] The system architecture 100 also includes a solutions module 108.The specific solutions derived in the solutions module 108 are obtainedfrom the identified problem or general solution associated with thefunctionality module 106, which may then be implemented by the business.The identified problem and the solutions may be stored in a database.Such specific solutions obtained by the solutions module 108 may be toreduce inventory, improve customer relationships or change businessprocesses and job responsibilities.

[0033] The functionality module 106 and/or the solutions module 108 mayalso be associated with a quantitative metrics module 110, whichcontains a mathematical model that represents the current performance ofthe customer's business. The quantitative metrics module 110 is used torequest specific quantitative answers (actual figures) from the userbased on the responses associated with the metrics module 104. Thesespecific quantitative questions are also termed “metrics”. A specificquantitative user response may be, for example, inventory turns over thepast year or on-time customer service over the past year. The specificquantitative user response can then be used by the quantified potentialbenefit module 112 in order to determine a financial benefit analysis ofimplementing a specific solution. The quantified potential benefitmodule 112 may be a financial or spreadsheet program which is capable ofproviding the required financial benefit analysis.

[0034]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the steps of implementing themethod of the present invention. In step 200, the process of the presentinvention requests a specific industry input from the user. Thisindustry input, by way of example, may be industrial, wholesale orretail industries. Of course a host of other industries can beimplemented and used with the system and process of the presentinvention. In step 205, the process of the present invention requests aspecific industry code (SIC) from the user. The SIC is well known in theindustry and a discussion thereof is thus omitted from the presentdiscussion.

[0035] Once the industry and SIC are provided by the user, the processof the present invention requests the user to select a specific businessmeasure (e.g., business driver) (step 210). The user can select one ormore drivers such as, for example, inventory and revenue. The driverwill be an industry specific measure related to the selected industryand SIC. Once the user selects the specific driver or drivers, theprocess of the present invention will then determine the related metricsmodule which is associated with the specific driver (step 215).

[0036] Once the appropriate metrics module is selected, in step 220, theprocess begins a question and answer session based on the selectedmetrics module. The questions are relevant to the specific businessmeasure and are presented on via a dynamic process using a rules basedengine. In this manner, the present invention will not ask the samequestion twice, and only pertinent questions related to (i) the driveror drivers, (ii) the selected SIC and (iii) previous responses will bepresented to the user. The user thus never sees unnecessary questions.These questions and answers are used, in part, to determine the businesssolutions.

[0037] In step 225, a determination will be made as to whether there areany more questions needed in order to provide a solution (e.g.,functionality) to the user. If further questions are needed, the processreturns to step 220 to ask another question and receive a responsethereto. If no further questions are needed, the process of the presentinvention determines the functionality or generic solution to thebusiness problem (step 230) based, in part, on the metrics and responsesthereto. In step 235, the user is provided with the generic solution.The generic solution is formulated via a rules based engine based oncertain criteria such as (i) the metrics (i.e., questions and relatedanswers) and (ii) the SIC. The process ends in step 240.

[0038] In embodiments, the process of the present invention may furtherdetermine a specific solution to the business problem (step 245). Thespecific solution may be based on (i) the metrics (ii) the SIC, (iii)the functionality and/or (iv) the user's demographics. A host ofsolutions can be stored in a database as shown in FIG. 4, and aredetermined based on rules provided in any known rules based engine whichcan be implemented by those of ordinary skill in the art. In step 250,the user is provided with the solution.

[0039] After the user is provided with the solution, the process of thepresent invention may then determine the financial benefits of thesolution. These financial benefits may be in terms of savings, financialbenefits to the business and the like. Specifically, in step 255, theprocess requests the input of certain specific quantitative metrics suchas, for example, “the specific amount of inventory during the month ofJanuary” or “the amount of revenue gained on the sale of ‘widgets’ inthe first quarter of the present year”. The answers to these specificquestions (e.g., the quantitative metrics) are then used by aspreadsheet or financial program, in step 260, to determine a rate ofreturn (ROR), a return of investment (ROI) or other financial analysissuch as return on assets (ROA). The financial benefit is then shown tothe user in step 265. The steps 245 to 265 or any part thereof may betransparent to the user in which case an authorized user would providethis information to the user for a fee or other consideration.

[0040] The specific solutions as well as the functionalities (genericsolutions) may also be ranked based on a range of the metrics. Theserankings can then be used to determine the most critical or severeproblems encountered by the business, and which need to be immediatelyaddressed in order to improve the business. This ranking can beimplemented via a host of different rules which are provided to thesystem of the present invention and stored in a database. By way of oneexample, a user may provide an answer to a specific question (metrics)which is below a known standard. This system of the present inventionwould then “flag” the severity of a problem such that the problem andthe solution would have a high priority ranking. By using this rankingsystem, the business can better prioritize its problems and neededsolutions.

[0041]FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the metrics used in an exemplaryillustration of the present invention. In general, FIG. 3 is used toevaluate various metrics to determine the causes of the problem in eachselected business driver. At each node of the decision tree of FIG. 3,the logic determines whether there is a weakness in the business and, ifso, goes deeper into the tree until an appropriate solution can beprovided. That is, when a weakness is detected at a node of the decisiontree, a functionality is identified and, ultimately, a solution isprovided to the business. It is noted that other metrics may be usedwith the present invention, and that the metrics of FIG. 3 are not meantto limit the measure of the present invention. The metrics of FIG. 3 areprovided in a hierarchical tree format and presented to the user basedon rules generated by a rules based engine.

[0042] With specificity, FIG. 3 relates to an inventory driver. Themetrics of FIG. 3 include three branches, 300, 320 and 340. Each of thebranches 300, 320 and 340 include specific questions (nodes) which arerelated to a specific branch. For example, branch 300 includes nodes 301to 316, where nodes 302-316 all relate to the high level node 301. Thissame sequence and logic also applies to branches 320 and 340. Thespecific metrics related to the individual nodes will be presented tothe user based on a previous response as defined by rules generated bythe rules based engine.

[0043] As an example of use of FIG. 3, a business may have a problemwith high finished goods inventory (FGI). In this case, the metrics ofnode 301 will be presented to the user. The next three nodes 302, 303and 304 of the adjacent lower levels, either individually or together,will then be displayed to the user. If the business has a problem with,for example, bad FGI policy, the user will then select the node 302.Alternatively, the user may provide a range of information associatedwith the bad FGI policy. In either scenario, the process of the presentinvention will use these metrics (and responses thereto), in conjunctionwith the known industry, to provide a general solution. A more specificsolution may then be derived from the generic solution. Both the genericand specific solution as well as the metrics and responses thereto willbe stored in a database.

[0044] As another example, the business may still have a problem withhigh finished goods inventory (FGI), but will also have either badforecasts (node 303) or long manufacturing cycle time (node 304). In thescenario of long manufacturing cycle time, the user will select themetrics of node 304. The user may then be prompted to select the metricsof nodes 309 to 318, depending on the specific business problem.However, depending on any previous answer only a next pertinent lowerlevel metrics will be presented to the user. For example, if there isnot a problem with queuing delay (node 312) then the system of thepresent invention will not show the metrics of nodes 313 to 316.

[0045] From the above discussion, it should further be recognized thatthe business may have several problems such as high FGI and work inprocess (WIP). In this scenario, the present invention will show themetrics of both nodes 301 and 321. But, the metrics of nodes 304 and 322are duplicate metrics and will not be reused for both of the presentedproblems. The rules of the rules based engine will thus determine thatduplicate metrics may be presented to the user and will thus eliminatethe need to request this information twice during the same or subsequentsessions. Accordingly, the user will need to respond only once to thismetric while the process of the present invention will use this responsein both branches 300 and 320.

[0046]FIG. 4 is a high level diagram showing the implementation of theapparatus and method of the present invention. Specifically, a user orcustomer 400 accesses a server 420 via a web browser 410 located on theworld wide web portion of the Internet. The server 420 may include afinancial program 421, a database 422 and a rules based engine 423. Thefinancial program 421, database 422 and rules based engine 423 may alsobe provided remotely from the server 420. Domain/industry experts 410provide the rules 415 to the server 420 and more particularly to therules based engine 423. The doamin/industry experts also provide data tothe database 422.

[0047] In the embodiments of the present invention the financial programmay be a spread sheet or other financial tool which is capable ofproviding a financial benefit analysis of the solution provided by thepresent invention. The database 422 stores the business specificdrivers, the metrics (including quantitative metrics) and the generaland specific solutions. The rules based engine provides the rules forselecting and/or determining the metrics (including quantitativemetrics) and the solutions. By being associated with the server 420, thecustomer may thus access and be provided with the solutions and metricsin accordance with the present invention.

[0048] The present invention is also capable of storing a user profileirrespective of the medium used to access the system and method of thepresent invention. This allows the user to answer questions at differenttimes and at different remote locations. All medium used to access thesystem and the method of the present invention will also allow the userto perform “what-if” analysis in order to generate different responsesbased on a desired business strategy. The present invention can also beused as a training tool for service consultants. By way of example, anewly hired consultant can be presented with several different scenariosin order to learn certain problems and associated solutions.

[0049] While the invention has been described in terms of preferredembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows:
 1. A method of providingbusiness solutions over an interactive communications medium, comprisingthe steps of: selectively providing metrics which are associated with abusiness problem and a specific industry; and providing a businesssolution based on the selective metrics and responses to the selectivemetrics.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:selecting the specific industry; and providing a business driver basedon the selected specific industry, wherein the selective metrics areassociated with the selected specific industry and the business driver.3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of selecting aspecific industry code associated with the selected specific industry.4. The method of claim 2, wherein the business solution is a generalbusiness solution based on the selected metrics and the specificindustry.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step ofproviding a specific business solution based on the general businesssolution, wherein the general business solution and the specificbusiness solution are stored in a database and are provided based on aset of rules.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the specific businesssolution is transparent to a user.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising the step of ranking one of the general business solution andthe specific business solution in order of business priority based onranking rules.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step ofstoring the selective metrics, the business driver, the specificindustry code and the responses to the selective metrics in thedatabase.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein the business driver is abusiness specific measure defined as one of inventory, revenue, costs ofgoods sold, selling and administrative expenses, fixed assets, accountsreceivable, and accounts payable.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theselected metrics are questions based on the specific industry and thebusiness driver.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein a next question ofthe selective metrics is based on a previous question and a previousanswer.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step ofproviding rules for determining the next question based on the previousanswer.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the rules determine whetherthe next question is a duplicate of a previous question such that theprevious question is selected only once.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the rules determine that no further question is selected. 15.The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providingquantitative metrics based on the selective metrics and the response.16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of providing afinancial analysis of the business solution based on at least onequantitative response to the quantitative metrics.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the financial analysis is a rate of return (ROR), areturn on investment (ROI) or a return on assets (ROA).
 18. A method forproviding business solutions over an interactive communications medium,comprising: identifying a specific industry; providing at least onebusiness measure associated with a particular financial aspect of thespecific industry; providing a set of questions associated with problemsof the specific industry, the set of questions being related to each ofthe provided at least one business measure; and providing a businesssolution based on responses to the set of questions and the specificindustry.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein: the business solution isone of a general business solution and a specific business solution, thegeneral business solution is based on the responses and the specificindustry, and the specific business solution is based on the generalbusiness solution.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising thestep of ranking one of the general business solution and the specificbusiness solution in order of business priority based on ranking rules.21. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of providingrules, wherein the rules at least (i) determine a next question based ona previous answer, (ii) determine that no further question needs to beselected and (iii) determine whether the next question is a duplicate ofa previous question such that the previous question will only bepresented once.
 22. The method of claim 18, further comprising the stepsof: providing at least one quantitative question based on the response;providing a financial analysis of the business solution based on atleast one quantitative response to the at least one quantitativequestion.
 23. A system for providing business solutions over aninteractive communications medium, comprising: means for providingselective business drivers associated with a specific industry; meansfor selecting business metrics based on the selective business drivers;and means for providing a business solution based on the selectivebusiness drivers and responses to the selected business metrics.
 24. Thesystem of claim 23, wherein the business solution is a general businesssolution.
 25. The system of claim 24, further comprising means forproviding a specific business solution based on the general businesssolution.
 26. The system of claim 25, further comprising means forgenerating rules, the generating rules means providing (i) the selectedmetrics based on the responses, (ii) the general business solution basedon the responses and the specific industry and (iii) the specificbusiness solution based on the general business solution.
 27. The systemof claim 26, further comprising means for storing the metrics, theresponses, the general business solution and the specific businesssolution.
 28. The system of claim 25, further comprising means forproviding a financial analysis of one of the general business solutionand the specific business solution based on quantitative responses. 29.A system for providing business solutions over an interactivecommunications medium, comprising: a business driver module which storesbusiness measures associated with a specific industry; a businessmetrics module which stores questions associated with the specificindustry and at least one selected business measure stored in thebusiness driver module; and a business solution module which providesbusiness solutions based on responses to selected questions stored inthe business metrics module and the specific industry.
 30. The system ofclaim 29, further comprising a quantitative metrics module associatedwith the business solution module, the quantitative metrics modulestoring specific quantitative questions.
 31. The system of claim 30,further comprising a financial analysis module which calculatesfinancial benefits of the business solution based on quantitativeresponses to selected specific quantitative questions stored in thequantitative metrics module.
 32. The system of claim 30, furthercomprising a rules module which generates rules, the rules being used todetermine the business solution based on the responses and pertinentquestions to provide to a user based on the responses.
 33. The system ofclaim 32, further comprising a database which stores the business drivermodule, the business metrics module, the responses and the businesssolution module.
 34. The system of claim 30, wherein the business drivermodule, the business metrics module and the business solution module areaccessed by one of a web page resident on a server, a telephone and apersonal digital assistant.
 35. A machine readable medium containingcode for providing business solutions over an interactive communicationsmedium, the code implementing the steps of: selectively providingmetrics which are associated with a business problem and a specificindustry; and providing a business solution based on the selectivemetrics and responses to the selective metrics.
 36. The machine readablecode of claim 35, further comprising the steps of: selecting thespecific industry; and providing a business driver based on the selectedspecific industry, wherein the selective metrics are associated with theselected specific industry and the business driver.
 37. The machinereadable code of claim 35, wherein the business solution is one of ageneral business solution and a specific business solution.
 38. Themachine readable code of claim 37, further comprising the step ofranking the business solution in order of business priority based onranking rules.
 39. The machine readable code of claim 37, wherein thebusiness driver is a business specific measure defined as one ofinventory, revenue, costs of goods sold, selling and administrativeexpenses, fixed assets, accounts receivable, and accounts payable. 40.The machine readable code of claim 35, further comprising the step ofproviding rules for determining a next metrics of the selective metricsbased on a previous response to the selective metrics .
 41. The machinereadable code of claim 35, further comprising the step of providingquantitative metrics based on the selective metrics and the response.42. The machine readable code of claim 35, further comprising the stepof providing a financial analysis of the business solution based on atleast one quantitative response to the quantitative metrics.